Theos-Talk Archives (November 1996 Message tl00258)

A couple days ago, JHE posted that [Bruce] "Campbell's
intention, as he admitted to the archivists at the Theosophical
Library at Pasadena, was to prove what he already believed
before he began the book: that all phenomena is [sic]
fraudulent, and the Masters don't exist."

While establishing an author's intentions from second-hand
reports of conversations occurring 18 years ago is better than just
pure guessing, it isn't *much* better.  I bet you this: if we
could find Bruce Campbell and ask him this question, the
answer would be "Certainly not":

Did you ever tell anyone at the Pasadena TS library that
your intention in writing Ancient Wisdom Revived was to prove
what you already believed before you began it: that all
phenomena are fraudulent and the Masters don't exist?

This sounds very much like someone's highly biased judgment of
what Campbell intended, which may have found *some*
justification in *something* Campbell said.  But as to his
actually saying such a thing *verbatim*-- it rings very false.  Even if
such was his intention, would he say so in such a
self-condemning way?

More importantly, having read Campbell's book several times I
do not see it as either proving or trying to prove either of
the points named above at all.  So if he was trying to do that,
he disguised his malevolent intentions so well as to fool me
and many others.  I would have sworn that his intention was to
give a sympathetic but objective history of the modern
Theosophical movement, leaving issues like the reality of
phenomena and Masters to the reader to decide.

>From personal experience and from friendship with Gregory
Tillett, I have learned one valuable rule: never trust anything
Theosophical officials (and their supporters) say about the intentions
of authors whose books they dislike.